Emile robiole



No. 622,079. Patented Mar, 28, I899 E. BOBIOLE.

FIRE ESCAPE.

(Application filed Dec. 29, 1898.)

'(No Model.)

FIGL.

A T7'OHNEYS.

WITNESSES ms NOFIIS PETERS co, PNOTO-LITHQ, WASHINGTON. u. c.

extension of the supplemental back 5.

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICE.

EMILE ROBIOLE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 622,079, dated March28, 1899.

Application filed December 29, 1898. Serial No. 700,617. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMILE ROBIOLE, of the city of New York, borough ofManhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new andImproved Fire-Escape, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to an improvement in fire-escapes; and the objectis to provide a fire-escape in connection with a piece of householdfurniture andso arranged that the piece of furniture may be easily movedabout a room to serve its usual functions and also serve as an anchorfor said fire-escape when the fire-escape is thrown out of a window incase of fire.

I will describe a fire-escape embodying my invention and then point outthe novel fea tures in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a section on the line 1 l of Fig. 2 of a fire-escapeembodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a partial section and partial rearelevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a section of a portion of the device,showing the position of parts when running the fire-escape out of awindow; and Fig. 4: is apartial plan and sec tion on the'line 4t 4 ofFig. 2.

I have shown the piece of furniture in the form of a chair; but it isobvious that it may be otherwise formed-for instance, to serve as asofa. The piece of furniture comprises a seat 1, supported on legs 2,which are provided with casters 3. From the seat a back 4 extendsupward, and rearward of this back 4 and spaced therefrom is asupplemental back 5. Arranged below the seat is a casing 6, provided atits front with a hinged door 7, and the back of said casing is formed byan To make the piece of furniture sufficiently heavy to serve as ananchor, I attach a weight to the lower portion. This weight is hereshown as a plate 8, of iron, secured to the legs 2.

Arranged in the casing 6 is a spindle 9, upon which the flexiblefire-escape or ladder 10 is designed to be Wound. This spindle 9 hasdisks 11 at its ends, and at one end it has an angular socket 12 to beengaged by a suitable windin g-crank,which may beinserted through anopening 13, formed in the side wall of the casing. The ladder is madepreferably of steel-wire cables or side pieces, to which steel rungs 14are attached. Normally a portion of this ladder extends up between thebacks i and 5, and at its outer end it is provided with a heavyweight15, which normally rests upon the upper end of the back 4: and upon aroller 16, arranged in the upper end of the supplemental back 5.

When not in use as a fire-escape, the sev-- eral parts will be in theposition indicated in Fig. 1, so that the piece of furniture may beeasily moved to any desired position about a room. In case of fire,however, the piece of furniture is to be moved up to a window, asindicated in Fig. 3, and the weighted end of the fire-escape thrown outof the window. The heavy weight 15 will cause the fire-escape or ladderto unwind until said weight 15 reaches the ground or other place ofsafety. As running the ladder directly over the outer edge of thewindow-sill might interfere with its downward movement, I provide aroller 17,- over which it may run. This roller is journaled in the freeends of arms 18, which are pivoted to the upper end of the back 4, andthese arms when the device is not in use as a fire-escape will hangdownward, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2. This roller 17 will not onlyprovide for the easy movement of the ladder, but as the connection ofthe arms with the piece of furniture is inward of the roller 16 the armswill serve as braces to prevent any possible tipping of the chair whilea person is going down the ladder. Obviously the piece of furniture maybe upholstered and made as ornamental as desired, and, as

before stated, it may be made in the form of a chair or sofa. 7

Instead of a movable piece of furniture a stationary box may be arrangednear a window and have the fire-escape wound therein. Of course the boxwould have a double back, and

as it forms a seat it is to be considered as a IOG 1. The combination,with a piece of furniture, having a back and a supplemental back securedto the first-named back, of a roller mounted on the upper end of thesupplemental back, a spindle in the lower portion of the piece offurniture, and a flexible fire-escape attached to the spindle and havinga portion extended upward between the two backs, substantially asspecified.

2. The combination, with a piece of furniture, having a back and asupplemental back secured thereto, of a roller mounted on the upper endof the supplemental back, a spindle in the lower portion of the piece off urniture, a flexible fire-escape attached to the spindle and having aportion extended upward between the backs, and a weight extended acrossthe fire-escape at its free end, and adapted to rest upon the top of themain back and the roller when the fire-escape is a roller at the upperend of the supplemental back, arms mounted to swing on the back of thepiece of furniture, a roller journaled in the free ends of said arms,and a weight in the lower portion of said piece of furniture,substantially as specified.

EMILE ROBIOLE. Vitnesses:

Jxo. M. RITTER, F. W. HANAFORD.

